Called Shots

[Hollywood]

Hi,

Has anyone created a house rule for called shots? If one can strike an object, why not being able to strike a specific body part...

[Mysterious Stranger]

I think Power Attack covers this nicely...what's the net effect of a called shot if not more damage? If there's some other specific reason why you'd want to make a called shot - some weakness or what have you - I'd probably just give +5 to defense.

[Hollywood]

Anyone else?

[Valdier]

I have to agree on the power attack item.

[Hollywood]

I have to agree on the power attack item.

Thanks for the thoughts, but has anyone gone with a more in-depth treatment?

[freedom]

Not just power attack, but Stunning attack too! A not-so-nice groin attack will stun ANY man(but hurt just thinking about it)

[vitruvian]

There's always the Lone Ranger shoot the hand disarm attack...

[Valdier]

Hollywood, if you are looking for a Gurps-esque damage/location table, I don't think you are going to find many people in favor of it. Most of those sorts of systems just get players looking to increase their to-hit bonus in order to get the extra damage of the called shots. That doesn't work extremely well in an abstract combat system unfortunately.

[Anthony]

However, a 'called shot' that lets you impair or disable limbs (arms, legs) does have some logic. Probably a 'hit' lets you assign a -1 to something.

[Hollywood]

However, a 'called shot' that lets you impair or disable limbs (arms, legs) does have some logic. Probably a 'hit' lets you assign a -1 to something.

Anthony, thats a good summary. I was looking in general to see if people have done something for this, but I guess not. Nonetheless, the impair/disable limbs is a good way of putting it and in fact more along the order of which I'm thinking of.

Hollywood, if you are looking for a Gurps-esque damage/location table, I don't think you are going to find many people in favor of it.

Valdier, wasn't really asking if people were in favor of it... I was asking if anyone had come up or put some thought into it. Thats it.

Most of those sorts of systems just get players looking to increase their to-hit bonus in order to get the extra damage of the called shots. That doesn't work extremely well in an abstract combat system unfortunately.

Depends on the system, GM and players I suppose. And no, the D20 abstract combat system doesn't really mean there can't be some detail to it. But thanks for your comments.

[Hollywood]

However, a 'called shot' that lets you impair or disable limbs (arms, legs) does have some logic. Probably a 'hit' lets you assign a -1 to something.

Anthony, based on your idea here is what I came up with as a first pass (note: I've been adding AoO back in via my house rules)...

Most attacks are done against a character's torso, however sometimes an attacker may wish to strike a specific body part. A called shot must be declared before an attack roll is made and provokes an attack of opportunity. A body part has a base Defense equal to the character's Defense + 5 + body part size, see Table 2. With a ranged weapon, a creature may take a full-round to perform the called shot which halves the size modifier penalty.

A successful called shot automatically generates a critical threat. The target suffers normal damage plus the following effect based on the body part:

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Body Part      Damage Roll...  Damage Roll...           Damage Roll...
                Fails           Fails by more than 5     Fails by more than 10
Head           Stunned         Unconscious              Dying
Upper limb     No effect       Imparied -2 modifier *   Imparied -4 modifier *
Chest          Stunned         Unconscious              Dying
Abdomen        Stunned         Unconcious               Dying
Lower Limb     No effect       Imparied -2 modifier ~   Imparied -4 modifier ~
* All die rolls reliant on the upper limbs, i.e. disabling traps, attack and defense rolls, etc., are at the stated modifier which is cumulative with other damage penalties.
~ All die rolls reliant on the lower limbs, i.e. jumping, tumbling, attack and defense rolls, etc., are at the stated modifier which is cumulative with other damage penalties.  Additionally, the character can not make more than one movement action per round.


If the called shot results in a crit, then the player may elect to forgo the damage done by a called shot in lieu of a specific effect. The effect must be stated at the same time that the called shot is declared and the outcome of the effect is left to the GM.

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Table 2
d20   Body Part                                 Non-Standard Anatomy
1-3   Head (If more than one, randomly choose)  Highly vital area
4-7   Upper Limb (i.e. arms on a humanoid.) *   Non-vital area or manipulative limb
8-13  Chest                                     Vital area
14-16 Abdomen                                   Vital area
17-20 Lower Limb (i.e. legs on a humanoid.) *   Non-vital area or motivation limb
* If more than one set, randomly choose.
Note: Add 1 for every level of size different that the target is larger than the attacker or subtract 1 for every size level that the target is smaller than the attacker  Ranged attacks are not effected by size difference.